Max was still grumbling about the noise of the notifications when a cold hand under the blankets slapped him on the backside.
“Get up and read your messages so that we can go to breakfast, or lunch since it’s the middle of the afternoon. We transfer out tonight.” Nico informed him, confirming Max’s fear that they were being sent back to work early.
There were two messages waiting for him, other than the ones from the unit. One was the notice that Abraham Kepler’s Warp Drive had a fault that required structural overhaul and would be in dry dock until further notice, with the units formerly aboard it being transferred to the Perseverance Eternal.
The second was the eyes-only message from Uncle Lu.
[Major Keres Max.
You are hereby relieved of Command of the Stalwart Special Tactics Unit with full honors and transferred to the Strategic Development Department for duty in the Mecha Modernization Bureau under General Chen Lu.
This posting has been classified Vermilion, all documents will be eyes only outside of a secured facility.
Duty Status for Major Keres Max will officially be changed to 4F Unfit for Service due to injury, until such time as this posting is completed.
You are required to report to the Mecha Development Lab on Comor Prime within 24 hours of receiving this message.
– Central Command]
That was a bit more than Max was expecting. First, Uncle Lu isn’t just an eccentric scientist designing oddball Mecha for the Comorian Conglomerate, he is the General in charge of modernizing the entire Kepler mechanized force.
Second, the project is so classified that the Department doesn’t officially exist and all the members are listed as retired from duty.
Third, this resort planet is actually the single most important strategic asset in the entire Empire, and not a single soul knows it, outside of the lab. No wonder the old man can’t go anywhere without guards and the security team couldn’t get into his lab to get Lady Chen out.
Vermilion access was a subcategory of Top Secret, an unofficial level of classified where all documents would delete after being accessed and used biometric encryption. Both the device and the intended user needed to match to decrypt them, and if anything went wrong, they simply scrambled the message and then self-destructed with a malicious virus.
It was a level of security not even used for major military operations, but Max would be living under it 24/7 for the foreseeable future.
Nico was right, he needed a full stomach to digest this news. And a drink, he definitely needed another drink.
Uncle Lu, or General Chen Lu as Max now knew him to be, was waiting on the patio by the infinity pool when Nico led Max out to eat. The area was deserted today, since the bright light hurt everyone’s eyes after a long night of drinking and celebration, leaving the old man sitting alone in his lab coat over a casual suit.
“Good to see you. I thought I’d give you an update on this evening’s tour of the museum. The dress code is casual, with no need for uniforms or fancy clothes. I’ll have your belongings sent to your apartment, so no need to worry about anything.
I’m sure you’ll love the place, it’s an outer unit, so it looks out of the dome directly from your window.” Uncle Lu’s casual conversation did an excellent job of hiding the true nature of their conversation, but Max did wonder where exactly he would be living.
“Thank you for your consideration. I’m sure the museum will be an incredible experience. I’ve heard all about it.” Nico answered, taking a seat beside Uncle Lu and signaling to the waitress to bring them drinks and the brunch special.
She used the single-handed sign language common among the deaf, but the staff seemed to know it well, and the order was ready before the waitress even got to the kitchen to place the order.
“I wasn’t expecting to be hanging around quite this long, but I’m sure it won’t be a terrible experience to remain here on Comor for a while,” Max added, smiling at Uncle Lu.
“You will see, it is not bad at all. But enough about that, let’s finish our meal so we can get going. We wouldn’t want to miss our reservation.” The General’s face almost looked serious there for a second, and Max wondered if it was a crack in the mask, or if this laid-back attitude was his default setting.
“We can take my shuttle, it’s waiting outside.” Uncle Lu informed them as the meal finished.
He had already had the staff pack up all their belongings from the hotel room, and double-check to make sure they hadn’t hidden any valuables so that nothing was left behind at the resort. The room itself had a convenient function for this, as every item in the room was digitally tracked, so when the sensors scanned the interior, it would tell them if any additional items remained in the suite.
It was a small high-tech luxury the hotel employed for their guests, but it proved invaluable many times in the past, finding fallen watches and earrings left behind when guests were about to check out. The guests could generally replace such things without any issue, but sometimes they held sentimental value that was worth far more than a few diamonds.
The Pilot and security guards were waiting at the shuttle when the three of them arrived to fly back to the lab, and their presence felt much more official now that Max knew that Uncle Lu was a General and not just some random member of the planet’s ruling family.
The conversation was still just as casual on the flight to the lab though, talking of Mecha and design philosophy the entire time, exactly the same conversation they were having the last time they flew together. It was a relief to Max since Uncle Lu was now his commanding officer. Finding out that he was stuck up and strict once you were under his command would have totally ruined Max’s image of him and would have made this assignment much less enjoyable.